1884.] On Catagenesis, 973 
been acquired by repetition, consciousness need no longer accom- 
pany the act. The act is said to be automatic when performed 
without exertion, either consciously or unconsciously, and in those 
functions now removed from the influence of the unconscious mind, 
such acts are called reflex. The origin of the acts is, however, 
believed to have been in consciousness, not only for the reasons 
above stated, but also from facts of still wider application. The 
hypothesis of archzesthetism then maintains that consciousness as 
well as life preceded organism, and has been the primum mobile 
in the creation of organic structure. This conclusion also flows 
from a due consideration of the nature of life. I think it possible 
to show that the true definition of life is, energy directed by sensi- 
bility, or by a mechanism which has originated under the direction 
of sensibility, If this be true, the two statements that life has 
preceded organism, and that consciousness has preceded organ- 
ism are coéqual expressions. 
II. Consciousness, ENERGY, AND MATTER. 
Regarding for the time being the phenomena of life as energy 
primitively determined by consciousness, let us look more closely 
into the characteristics of this remarkable attribute. That con- 
sciousness, and therefore mind, is a property of matter, is a neces- 
sary truth, which to some minds seems difficult of acceptance. 
That it is not an attribute of all kinds of matter is clear enough, 
but to say that it is not an attribute of any kind of matter is to 
utter an unthinkable proposition. To my mind the absence of 
tridimensional matter is.synonymous with nothingness or abso- 
lute vacuity. To say that phenomena have a material basis, is for 
me only another way of saying that they exist. It being granted 
en that consciousness is an attribute of matter, or a certain 
behavior of matter, it remains to trace its relation to energy, 
Which is here used in the sense of motion. Consciousness is 
Clearly not one of the known so-called inorganic forces. Objects 
which are hot, or luminous,‘or sonorous, are not, as is well 
known, on that account conscious. Consciousness is not then a 
necessary condition of energy. On the other hand, in order to 
be conscious, bodies must possess a suitable temperature, and 
must be suitably nourished, So energy is a necessary condition 
of consciousness. For this reason some thinkers regard con- 
Sctousness as a form or species of energy. For my own part, in 
Classification, I prefer to keep very different things apart. To 
